The Yellow Butterfly.

Waking up on the soft ground, I sit up as my mind starts to wonder. "Where am I? How did I get here? It seems I'm all alone." Trapped in this never-ending dark forest. The shadows don't even want to come out and play. With no place to go, no place to hide, and no place to call home. "What do I do now?" As I walk, the tall overgrown grass scratches at my legs with every step I take. Bushes with enchanting roses block my path. Thorns too dangerously sharp to let me pass through safely. Large, thick, full trees stretch up high. Blocking out the sun, the moon, the stars, and the sky. The cold air makes my whole body shiver. All the warmth I had in me, leaves my body behind. I can hear the sound of crickets, singing their beautifully ominous song to me somewhere off in the distance. As I continue to walk forward, the sound of leaves and tree branches break underneath my feet with each and every slow step. Soon, I make my way closer to a small clearing. But the fog surrounding me gets thicker, making it harder to breathe. I start gasping and choking for air. Air that never seems to reach my lungs. I collapse on the soft dirt as I try to breathe. Inhaling sharply as I feel the stinging in my lungs, begging me for air. Knees sinking into the soil from falling down hard. Hitting some hidden pebbles along the way. Hunched over, clawing at the ground, dirt getting beneath my fingernails. I scream as I punch the ground. "No, I can't die in here!" After some time my adrenaline begins to slow down. Sadness over takes me, and tears start to fall from my eyes. Watering the soil and the little flowers poking up from beneath me. "I didn't know flowers could bloom in such dark places, with no sunlight. Would the rain be able to reach them through the trees? How do they survive?" I keep my head down with all these pondering thoughts. Not wanting to look out into a sea of dark nothingness. I sigh. When I finally raise my head to look up from the ground, I see a gorgeous yellow butterfly passing by. Flying so graceful, yet so powerful. Its illuminated yellow color seems to glow. Like the bright lights of fireflies shining in the darkness. Hypnotizing and welcoming, it lands right in front of me. It's then that I remember what a yellow butterfly symbolizes. With my head now pounding, memories come rushing back to me when I was about 17 years old. Memories of me sitting on a park bench. Memories of a yellow butterfly coming to me at that time as well. I remember it all so clearly. It flew around me for a while, right before landing at my feet. A beautiful older woman who saw the interaction came up to me and asked, "Do you know what the color of a yellow butterfly means?" I answered her honestly, and said, "No, I'm sorry, I don't." She gave me a small laugh and a perfect smile. Then she sat down beside me and said, "A yellow butterfly symbolizes guidance and hope. As well as joy, creativity, and sunshine. If it flies around you, it will bring happiness and prosperity." Then she looked at me with an expression I still can't explain, even to this day. As she stared me right in the eyes, she continued to say, "A yellow butterfly is teaching you that you should never lose your hope. And there is always a solution for every problem you have." I stared at her, unmoving and speechless. Unsure of what to say. But before I could come up with anything, she stood up, smiled at me one last time, and walked away. I sat there a while longer. Contemplating her words. "What could she mean?" Puzzled, I shook my head, stood up, and started my long walk home. Just then, all too suddenly, I'm snapped out of my memory by the butterfly flying around my face. Holding my pounding head, I let out a small laugh. "If I knew then what I do now, maybe her words would have made more sense to me." I start to think about hope at that moment. "Do I have any left?" No, I quickly shake that idea from my head. "I can't start thinking like that. I need to hold on." So many questions, but no answers to go with them. Metaphorically, I say to myself, "Maybe one day, I'll find all the keys to the locked doors." I watch as the butterfly soars higher and higher up into the dark sky of the forest. I think one last time about its meaning. "A yellow butterfly symbolizes guidance and hope." Feeling all the tension in my body slowly leave, I decided enough is enough. "I have to stand up, I have to get moving again." Somehow, I manage to pull everything I have together. Taking myself out of my head for now, and without trying to overthink, I force myself up. I dust off my hands and knees, take a deep breath, and continue to wonder around in the darkness. "It's the only thing I can do, after all," I tell myself. "I have to carry on, I need to carry on." With that small thin string of hope I have left in me, glowing brighter with every step forward, I know I want to make it out of here. "Darkness is not the only thing I want to know. I don't want to be trapped in a place where night never seems to end. With no sun, no moon, no stars, and no sky." As I keep walking ahead, there's nothing in sight, only darkness for the eye to see. "It's so lonely. How could anyone survive here?" Quickly getting lost in thought again, I start to wonder if time is standing still, forever unmoving. "Could I possibly be stuck in a time loop? No, that can't be it. Just keep walking, don't stop," I keep repeating over. At that moment, I raise my head a little higher only to see the same yellow butterfly again. Seeing it flying around so carefree, I can't help but smile, despite my situation. It flies up to my face and flutters around my head. It then heads back in the direction it came from. "Yellow butterflies symbolize guidance," I said. Then, without hesitation, I sprung forward. Chasing the butterfly in whatever direction it goes. Desperate to keep up with it, not letting it out of my sight. As I keep running for what feels like hours, I realize that the fog is starting to vanish, and the cold air is starting to turn warm. Up ahead, I can see thin rays of light seeping through a crack in the trees. It's then that I notice the butterfly has disappeared. "Where did it go?" I decide to creep forward more slowly than ever before to get a closer look. As I do, a small, thin gap comes into my vision. Just big enough for someone to fit through. I stand there in a circle of light. Feeling warmth spread throughout my body. Hot tears staining my cheeks. "I made it!" I shout. Overtaken by happiness, I run as fast as I can to the opening. Taking one last look at the never-ending dark forest behind me. I whisper a quiet, "Thank you!" Before I disappear on the other side. Finally, at long last, I step out into the sunshine.